This invention relates to toilet plumbing fixtures and, more particularly, to an improved means to provide a leak-proof seal when connecting a toilet to a drain pipe using toilet rings.
Toilet or water closet rings to secure toilets to their associated drain pipes have been in use for many years and there are many constructions known in prior art defining different means of securing and sealing toilets and their drain pipes. Prior to the use of plastic or PVC pipe in drain systems, cast iron drain pipes and toilet rings were mainly used and the accepted procedure of sealing consisted of filling the toilet ring-drain pipe joint with a compound and heating it until it reached a liquid state and formed a seal.
With the subsequent use of plastic pipe, new sealing means were utilized including the use of a neoprene or rubber gasket as a seal between the drain pipe and the toilet ring. Such sealing arrangements are shown in Cuscheva U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,267 and Cuscheva U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,340 where an annular, resilient sealing gasket, tapered at top and bottom, is compressed between the upper and lower rings, and the drain pipe. Brown U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,166 also teaches the compressing of a resilient sealing gasket where the gasket is grooved to enhance the sealing capabilities of the toilet ring. Various sealing rings and pipe joint assemblies are shown in Durgan U.S. Pat. No. 3,317,214, Kennedy U.S. Pat. No. 2,075,947, and Hawkins British Patent No. 1,041,441. A seal for a rotating shaft is disclosed in Baumle U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,155.
Problems occur when the sealing gasket is either misaligned upon installation or for some reason, the gasket bends or slips out of position thus breaking the moisture seal and allowing the waste to escape the drain system.
The present invention incorporates both an inner and an outer ring section along with an annular, resilient gasket to connect, secure, and seal the toilet to its associated drain pipe and the floor. This invention is distinguished from the prior art in that it provides an improved gasket means for a leak-proof connection between the toilet and its drain pipe in an easy-to-install configuration.
The toilet sealing ring of the present invention includes a outer ring section with an inwardly directed beveled lip at its base. The sealing gasket also has a beveled surface at its base to mate with the outer ring lip. This angular mating forces the gasket upward and inward with corresponding downward pressure from the inner ring section. The sealing gasket has a cylindrical or tapered upper wall with an outer radius such that it slides inside the inner ring section when the toilet sealing ring is assembled. Once the drain pipe is positioned in the assembled toilet sealing ring, a tightening means is used to compress the gasket between the inner ring section, the outer ring section and the drain pipe forming a moisture tight seal between the said toilet seal and said pipe. This seal is created with low risk of misalignment or gasket slippage upon installation.
This combination of useful features for the securing and sealing of a toilet to its associated drain pipe is not believed to be disclosed or suggested by any of the prior art patents and, in view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toilet ring assembly which, when used with its sealing gasket, will secure and seal a toilet to its drain pipe with little or no risk of misalignment or gasket slippage.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable sealing means including a first ring portion having a beveled lip supporting a sealing gasket having a mating beveled surface, which when compressed by a second ring portion configured to slide inside said first portion will form a seal with an inserted drain pipe structure.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a two-piece toilet sealing ring with a sealing gasket which self-aligns with the upper and lower ring sections and, when compressed, forms a moisture-proof seal.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: